White Flag

French Wine #1

by Thom Lane

Charlie is a nomad, a travel writer who will never settle down. Easy come, easy go: all his boyfriends have been flings or one-night stands. "Love them and leave them" is his motto, the rule he lives by. Until he meets Matthieu one day, by the side of a French canal. After a long hot night together, Charlie realises that this is at last the man he wants to keep, the perfect companion for his wanderlust life.

Matt is a beauty, a treasure, a joy—a man who knows just where he belongs, and means to stay there. His family has made wine here for generations; this valley is his home, and not even his passion for Charlie can shift him.

There can be no doubt of their love, but their own natures contrive to pull them apart—unless one surrenders. But will rolling stone or rooted tree raise the white flag?

Genres: M M Romance, Contemporary, Romance, M M Contemporary, Gay

64 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2009

About the author

Author Thom Lane is an English writer who has published romances and erotica as well as fantasies and other books under other names. In his tales of Amaranth, he is combining as many of those genres as possible…
http://www.loose-id.com/authors/q-t/t...

Reviews

[Elizabetta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-read for the test-of-time challenge. (first read; 5/3/2011)

"Some days, I can almost feel too lucky to live. What have I ever done, to deserve this? The words might as well be painted in great white sky-­letters above my head, like clouds that follow me around and never rain on me."

And so it begins. Slow, lazy day, and Charlie is fishing off his canal boat, catching fat brown trout, and along comes the lovely Matthieu strolling the towpath; eyes meet, fate is set.

Just as seductively sweet the third time round, I love the intoxicating, joie de vivre the author steeps his writing in, lulling me softly, inexorably into another painting of life and love-found in the French countryside.

"Honey to look at, salt on the tongue, and then a lingering aftertaste, a spicy eau de cologne laid down over the taste of him, the man himself: he was as complex as his wine. And that was only the skin of him, and only what my mouth could discover there... touch was something else... a silky-smooth resilience with the firm shift of muscle beneath, like fish in water... like nothing, truly, except himself."

This is the first book in Lane's 'French Wine' series, all of them excellent, escapist summer reading. Highly recommended.

[Taintedskyee (Books Books&More Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A soft tale.Basically a comfort read.But in a long run I don't think I will remember the story.
This is a book to be picked up when you had lots of dark read.Unfortunately I was suffering from sugar over load and couldn't enjoy the story.
Story was depicted wonderfully,gives a poetic feel to it.Very fast paced filled with fun and frolic.
Can be read.

[Josephine Myles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book partly in a panic because I thought my forthcoming novel, Barging In, was the very first m/m romance set on a canal boat - then I discovered another featuring a footloose travel writer taking a week long boating holiday assignment and falling for a local in the process. Fortunately for my peace of mind, the plot similarities end there :)

White Flag is a beautifully written and lyrical novella, and I thought the style of narration was well suited to Charlie's first person POV as a writer. However, I can also perfectly understand why some readers didn't get on with this aspect. At times the prose got in the way of direct experience, and I felt like I was being told things rather than shown them in detail. Charlie's slight remove from the locality he is observing and falling for, but has no intentions of staying in, is one of those aspects that works well if you like a more literary style, but is going to irritate anyone who doesn't. As a rule of thumb, if you don't get on with Harper Fox's style of narration, you're unlikely to enjoy this novella as much as I did.

I didn't feel like I really got to know Matt as a character and I wished he'd been fleshed out more, so that I could understand why he fell for Charlie so quickly. However, it's a sweetly romantic and beautifully written story featuring canal boats - what more could I ask for?!

Recommended to anyone who likes a bit of lyrical prose in their boat-based m/m romances.

[Enny · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a charming and elegantly written yet simple (in a very good sense) love story!

[Ije the Devourer of Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely. A simple but beautiful love story and thankfully only book one in the series.

[Shana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Characters:
Charlie is a travel writer on assignment in France to write an article on canal boating. He's a nomad with a London flat he could just as well do without, who enjoys traveling the world far too much to settle. He knows what he wants but also does a good job of pushing it out of his lap when what he wants falls into it. He's adaptable and respectful, willing to please others but also capable of playful irreverence. In short: he's rather a charming rake.

Matthieu is what Charlie is not: he found where he belongs and is not ready to give it up. He has purpose in working for his uncle's winery and being surrounded by family, and is absolutely baffled by Charlie's wanderlust. He's less hesitant to pursue what he wants and is prepared to cling to it once he's gotten it, not wanting to let anything go without at least trying to make it work. He's as charming as Charlie, in his own way, and certainly very easy to like.

The relationship between Charlie and Matthieu is adorably awkward, sweetly comfortable, and satisfyingly steamy by turns. Their initial tap dancing was downright cute, and the result of it was definitely hot. The scene at the pool and the ease they display with each other never fails to make me smile.

The supporting cast was universally appealing, with my high point being Grandmére. They beautifully served to further define Matthieu, as well as to build the world in which he lived.

Story:
The story is carried by the characters, rather than driven by events. Because of this, not a whole lot happens--and not-a-whole-lot happens very well. Much of the story involves the building of relationships, not only between Charlie and Matthieu, but also between Charlie and Matthieu's family.

Writing:
I found the manner in which the story was told to be delightful. Written in the first person from Charlie's point of view, the story flows as easily as though it was a conversation between him and the reader. Things that would normally drive me nuts (like sentence fragments) just worked here.

And, really, things like this just make happy:

At least, I told stories I'd picked up in my travels, and he talked about life in the valley here. We hardly actually mentioned ourselves at all. They were stories about chance-met strangers and close neighbours, always other people, other lives; but they served well enough for self-portraits. This is how I live, who I live among; the only person missing from this narrative is myself. See that gap I left, the absence in the story? That's where I fit, exactly. Like portraits drawn in silhouette and shadow. We gave ourselves away with every word.

This style carries through even the sex scenes, which are mildly graphic and very nicely done. The use of the euphemism greedy little tyrant also makes me smile.

Overall:
If I had to pick only a handful of books to take with me to a desert island, this would be one of them. Although it's fairly short, it is a definite argument for quality over quantity--and the length makes it perfect for a quick comfort read.

[Calathea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and sweet and almost poetic. It conjures the feeling of a perfect summer day, one of those days in your teenage years that you will remember your entire life. It is like this glowing enchantment that is falling in love.
I can only say, that I love it.

[Lada · Rating 2 out of 5]

A whirlwind romance with pretty writing and very nice side characters.

PS: I really want to try Matt's wine.

[Tamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like both Charlie and Matthieu. So different but so right for each other. A wonderful family welcomes Charlie in because he is Matthieu's beau. They each come from such separate view points, one a world traveler and writer, the other a vintner with his roots as deep as the vines he tends.

The decision is difficult... what can they do but surrender....

Recommended

[Snowtulip · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I'm going to create a book shelf called "after angst". This book would be perfect for that shelf because it offers a reprieve from angst with the sweet, easy dynamic between Matt and Charlie. The short story is beautifully written and I hope to see more!

[FloJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

quiet story with relaxed, impractical summer holiday feel. Pleasant, but not worth reading a second time.

[Jenn (not Lily) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfection, absolute perfection! The writing, the setting, the people. Just like Matt's wine, this story is complex and honey-dry, sweet and yet with more depth than I could have ever expected. I have to read more by this author -- his phrases make me think of my favorite word-smiths, K.J. Charles and Jordan Castillo Price, Amy Crooke and Shaw Montgomery. Absolutely lovely!

[Kassa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully lyrical and beautiful romance that is worth reading. The writing itself is evocative and brings the French countryside alive just as the two men are vivid and captivating. The story is so enthralling that it masks the lack of the depth the relationship is given and lack of actual connection beyond physical between the men. Even considering these drawbacks, the prose shines and creates a lovely and romantic story that will delight and satisfy. It’s rare the writing is filled with enough imagery and emotion on its own to compensate for problems in the characters, but this story does so beautifully.

The premise is rather simple with an opposites attract chemistry between Matthieu, who is deeply rooted and married to the land, and Charlie, who has a deep love and need to travel constantly. These men have their own identities and know where they belong in the world, happy to spend a few hours indulging in surprising and vibrant chemistry with a stranger. This chemistry leads to desire and longing and eventually love, but with the opposite needs of the men more than simple compromise would be needed for a happy ending. Both men must sacrifice and evaluate what they need for their own happiness.

Both men are complicated with needs and desires beyond finding a mate. Matt has a deep love of the land and making wine, not to mention his close and loving family. These elements combine to create an environment that Matt is not willing to leave but also that he needs for his happiness. He has no need for travel and excitement in the ways Charlie does but is willing to hold onto people and things he loves. His open and easy mannerisms mask the complexity of the man. Although he is younger than Charlie, Matt is completely aware of his identity and his needs.

Charlie is also aware of his needs but they are complicated and warped by his life constantly traveling. He has never tried to have a relationship but experiences unease when attempting to settle in one place. His need to experience new things and travel are just as important as Matt’s need to stay in the vineyard. Charlie’s understanding of their opposite needs is a gradual process even though he recognizes the inevitably sad parting from the start. The concept of compromise is foreign to Charlie and he hides from his fears in rationalizations.

The process these two men go through is a beautifully written story, yet at the heart the men have very little basis for their lasting love. Told from Charlie’s point of view in first person, the connection between the men is deeply physical and becomes an easy companionship yet that essential element is missing. Matt is seen through Charlie’s favorable perception and thus lacks some depth. Just as the intensity of their emotion is too fast and too involved for their experience. This slides into love at first sight almost. However, the lyrical writing compensates for this lack and creates a lovely story regardless.

Examples of the writing which creates such imagery and emotion are:

At least, I told stories I'd picked up in my travels, and he talked about life in the valley here. We hardly actually mentioned ourselves at all. They were stories about chance-met strangers and close neighbours, always other people, other lives; but they served well enough for self-portraits. This is how I live, who I live among; the only person missing from this narrative is myself. See that gap I left, the absence in the story? That's where I fit, exactly. Like portraits drawn in silhouette and shadow. We gave ourselves away with every word.
And:

Eventually, reluctantly, there was sleep of a sort, though I was still totally aware of his presence even in my thin and broken dreaming. I knew it when he moved, I knew it when he woke; I felt his arms come round me and knew that I didn't need to wake myself, not yet.

So I drowsed on in his arms, comforted and content, until he moved more purposefully. Until he deliberately set out to wake me with lips and fingers, with liberties.

I was disappointed when the story ended because I could have read the author’s writing and prose for much longer. The characters were engaging and afforded opportunities for future stories with a satisfying romance. The ending may not be perfect but fits the characters, their needs, and the story wonderfully. Overall, I highly recommend this story and think readers will greatly enjoy the romance and writing.

[Elisa Rolle]

White Flag is a strange novella since it mixes the dreamy atmosphere of a fairy tale with the naughtiness of an erotic romp, and the author is so good in blending them, that you almost don't realize when the fairies (no pun intended) are suddenly turning into little devils. It's always a pleasure when I find a new author that is able to arise my interest at first taste, even if, in this case it's my fault, I bought the first book by Thom Lane, but as sometime happens, it shifted in my reading list. Now I will be sure to pick it up and put it in first line.

Charlie is a modern vagabond, a minstrel who uses pen and ink instead of voice and lute. He is a travel guide writer, he spends a month in a place and another at the opposite end of the world. He likes to savor all the tastes of new places, but he is very careful to not become addicted, he doesn't want strings, he doesn't like commitment. And then, while sailing along a French river, like a naughty fairy, or a modern Bacchante, Matthieu lures him at shore: Matt is young and fresh like the wine he is harvesting, and willing and sparkling as well. Matt's life is easy and lazy like Chalie's, but in a way, completely different. Where Charlie has no root or obligations, Matt is firmly set in his family home, and is roots are deep like the one of the vineyard he so much love. Where Charlie has no family or real friends, Matt is living inside a welcoming family, a matriarchal society were the women lead the house and the men the affair, but deep inside, it's the woman who will have the last word on everything.

Charlie is enthralled, the first day he spends with Matt is almost like a dream, and he is convinced to be able to wake the morning after and being free from the enchantment. But Matt's power is too strong, and Charlie, like pushed by an invisible force, is forced to leave his boat and ventures on Matt's ground, among the vineyard, and inside his home. It's like a magical land, where everything is perfect and simple, where Charlie can spend the day doing nothing and the night having passionate sex with Matt. Even if Charlie's mind is constantly denying the truth, Charlie's body and heart are lost, too much involved in the lure. And then Charlie finds the strength to go away, to break the spell; but Matt is not ready to let him go, he decides to go with Charlie, at least for some days. But more the boat takes Matt and Charlie far from the vineyard, and more Matt seems to die out, like a fire without fuel.

As I said it's a strange novella, it's totally a contemporary tale, there is nothing of fantastic or paranormal on it, and nevertheless, I had the feeling to read a fantasy tale. Even the way as the time flew, inside and outside the vineyard was different, even the sex between Charlie and Matt was different, more forceful and down and dirty on the boat, almost ethereal and less graphic inside Matt's bedroom. I believe the author interweaved a story full of symbolism and atmosphere, making it at the same time light enough to be also quite arousing.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002NXOQS4/?...

[A.B. Gayle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed White Flag. Having written a romance that touched on the wine industry and a straight travel, wine book with recipes, plus one that had fishing as an aspect there were quite a few hooks that brought me into the story.

There, though, the similarities ended. Our writing styles are very different.

The tone is very languid and the writing very melodius. Carefully chosen turns of phrases and clever word usage suited the concept that the narrator was a writer. The description and characterisation brought you into the world.

I am never one to criticise what a character is like, more how well the character is drawn and the way they fit into the story. This book had two minor characters the cousin and the grandmother. The younger girl's role was pivotal. Some readers may have found her involvement contrived, but I saw her as a miniature of her matriarchal grandmother. To me they were both fine.

It was pleasing to read a book where the sex was present but not described in detail. Just enough to carry the mood of the encounter and the impact it had on each participant.

The whole book was very cerebral with the long passages of conversation.

A common criticism of first person POV is that readers like to know what both people are thinking. Having also written quite a few in first I appreciated how well this was done. It made sense that the narrator, again from his background that involved interviews, would have enough skill to understand and read between the lines so he knew what the other man was thinking most times and conveyed that well to the reader.

I didn't need to get into Matthieu's head and using the cousin to spell it out in no uncertain terms near the end reinforced that.

I liked this book because it was different. It introduced me to a world without overwhelming me in detail. Something as a writer I need to learn. The author is also a lot better than me at getting into a character's emotions and feelings.

So in many ways, my high rating is an acknowledgement of superior technique.

If I had one criticism it is that I think it would have worked better if both protagonists were older. Mid thirties, even in their forties. Two men who had seen their fair share of life, with all its disappointments, so when an opportunity came along there was more urgency to act on it. More recognition that this was something different.

But this would then have been a different book. So I'll make it 4.5 stars rounded to 5.

[Sadonna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh I really liked this! Charlie is an English travel writer and he is in France on a canal boat writing an article when he meets Mattieu - the nephew of the owner of a local vineyard. They begin an affair but Charlie is becoming more an more enamored of Matt and his entire family. Matthieu's grandmother and the rest of his cousins and aunt and uncle welcome Charlie into their home with open arms. Charlie feels a bit guilty about this though as he knows he is only there for a few days. Juliette, Matthieu's youngest cousin is determined to make Charlie stay and she does her best to show him around and introduce him to their world.

The conflict of course arises when Charlie needs to wind up his article and assignment and head home before he is scheduled for a trip to Brazil. He asks Matthieu to come with him but it's the harvest at the vineyard and he cannot be absent. They each are breaking the other's heart. Juliette, the teenage cousin seems to be the most wise and honest of the whole family. And certainly the most stubborn :)

Lovely lovely story! I really like the setting, the characters and the ending.

[Maygirl7 · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a fun read, but a disappointment after the intense read of Dark Heart. I had a hard time believing the same author wrote both. Dark Heart was quite different from the standard m-m book, while White Flag was very standard with little to differentiate it from the crowded m-m field. That said if you haven't read Dark Heart, then I am sure that White Flag will be very satisfactory.

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully written prose, but I just couldn't connect with the two main characters. They were just too perfect and too disconnected from the world. The story is cute, a bit unrealistic, but nonetheless enjoyable to read. I give White Flag three stars.

[Mandy*reads obsessively* · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book! A sweet, flowing story!

[Tam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the concept of this, travel writer who can't stand the idea of being in one place more than a few weeks meets wine maker who can't fathom not being with family for his entire life. Conflict ensues. However for me I think it was too flowery. I just didn't care for the style although I liked the characters save for the younger cousin, she was annoying as hell. You've known the guy for all of 24 hours and you want him to live with your family forever and ever. Ummm, he's a stranger. I did like how they both agreed to compromise in the end and as I said, I really liked the idea, the style just didn't work for me.

[Book Utopia · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the characters in this are nothing new, and the ending a tad sappy and contrived, I still love this story for its vivid setting and authorial voice. There's a delicate romanticism to the prose that utterly fits the setting, and it sucked me in almost from the beginning. I loved how authentic it felt, and that more than compensated for any sense of sameness that might have arose from the plot.

[Meggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hm, the story is serious, plot is focused on Charlie who is running "traveling" around the world, and meeting new people. In general nice romantic story with good realistic ending.

[Tailtiu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pure sugar without calories

[Marlobo ♥ epilogues · Rating 2 out of 5]

My connection with the MC was non-existent. The prose turned out to be flowery and boring for me. I couldn't stop yawning and when I finished it I felt relieved